SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: Political scientists have traditionally explained low voter turnout as a sign of apathy. Citizens who do not vote, the reasoning goes, simply do not care much about politics. Efforts to raise turnout, from this view, must begin by persuading people that elections matter.
Text 2: Surveys by political scientist Ruth Adeyemi suggest that many nonvoters follow political news closely and hold strong opinions. What separates them from voters, she finds, is more often practical difficulty: inflexible work schedules, distant polling places, or confusing registration rules. In states that adopted automatic registration and expanded early voting, turnout rose noticeably among these groups.
Based on the texts, how would Adeyemi most likely respond to the strategy for raising turnout described in Text 1?
She would argue that the strategy should be abandoned because apathy plays no role at all in low turnout.
She would suggest that the strategy would succeed if polling places simply stayed open longer.
She would argue that the strategy may be misdirected for many nonvoters, who often care about politics but face obstacles to voting.
She would agree with the strategy but recommend that it focus on nonvoters who follow political news.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
Text 1's strategy assumes nonvoters don't care, so it aims to persuade them. Adeyemi finds that many nonvoters do care but face practical barriers, and that removing barriers raised turnout. She would see the persuasion strategy as aimed at the wrong problem for many nonvoters, choice C.
Choice A is too absolute; Adeyemi says practical difficulty is "more often" the issue, which leaves room for apathy in some cases.
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